Down to my final few weeks of working for the job that pays the bills. I guess this is where the term “FULL STOP” comes from. I was going to argue that analogy but really I do have to exit one boat and get on another. I’ve been riding a ship called the Miracle on 15th Street for almost 26 years now.

As with any voyage it’s had its rough seas. But also some beautiful sailing ones that I will reflect on the rest of my life. I’ve had a couple of my past managers reach out and say some very appreciative and touching things to me which are very personal. Also thanks from co-workers and current managers.

I spent last night talking to my friend Jake who’s been there almost 50 years which is about the time also have in the industry. We have seen and experienced so much. We both smile and chuckle throughout the conversation. We sometimes pause and reflect on co-workers that have passed that we were close with.

We talk of difficult times, situations, people, environments and on the flip side the many positive ones that both brought laughter and sadness for days we missed. For instance even though those old buildings on 15th Street were a mess and had roaches and rats, it was so much more of a feeling of home than that sterile office now on 13th that is leased. It had character, history and feeling. Even though the presses were taken out of downtown and printing plants in College Park and Springfield were doing the production it still had that Newspaper Office substance. I mean decades of cigarette stained walls, the many years of experience manning the desks, banging out stories and running out to catch the next scoop. Despite the cleaning I don’t think they ever got rid of all the paper lint or ink stains around the place till it was torn down.

We talked of the printing plants, the data center moves, the disaster systems. We remembered the significant events in history that happened and challenged us like 9/11. We remembered successes and some screwed up situations. We ran through the many systems we have installed, supported and replaced over time and the trials and tribulations with them.

We have memories, many of them. We have senses of accomplishment and also sadness that it’s coming to an end. That sense of loss and a end of one thing I’ve been doing all my life is what I will cycle through the next two weeks and a night.

I’ll have more conversations, more laughs, more goodbyes. I’ll stay in touch with some and others will fade. I will probably ramble on in the future about the experience but in these last days I’m soaking it in, feeling proud of the effort, knowing I made a difference many times along the way and that a lot of it went unseen. And that is okay also because many of us who work behind the scenes in producing that daily paper do it every day with pride. If I’m lucky in the next two weeks I’ll have a spotless record of never failing to publish under my watch.

I’ve enjoyed working with so many professionals along the way. Many who shared valuable knowledge, skills and information both in work and personally along the way that made me much better. I hope I’ve done the same along the way and shared my knowledge and experience in both work and life with others. I feel I have and that is a good feeling also.

One final thought today. With the demise of the local and daily papers and the mistrust in any publications nowadays I hope people reflect on what we once had. A society of trust based on peoples best efforts to bring truth and facts to our everyday lives as well as the positive things from little Jimmy hitting his first little league home run to the local teachers doing wonderful things, to the local governments and the community of volunteers that help so many with so little so much.

Lots of important things are lost without news that is trusted. They raised issues that people need to address but in a context of communication and understanding from both parties to work towards something better.

Maybe that pile of wood pulp fashioned into fact checked words and images that landed on your doorstep or driveway or paperbox had more significance in our society than we thought.

I did a quick Google – How many local newspapers have closed in the US?

“Co-authored by Northwestern visiting professor Penny Abernathy and project director Sarah Stonbely, this year’s report marks the sixth edition of the “State of Local News” project. The researchers found that since 2005, the U.S. has lost nearly 2,900 newspapers and 43,000 journalists.Nov 16, 2023″

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Random Thoughts of the Day

• If you can get around all the negative stuff, there is a lot to enjoy in life.
• A good way to avoid the negative stuff is to leave the TV off.
• Get up, Get out, Get healthy.
• I have neglected to factor illnesses like covid, flu, colds, rsv, and into my holiday schedule. So I don’t have time for you now so see me next year.
• Our realities are very interlinked. It’s our minds that are far apart.
• I will miss my doctor asking me “if I’m still bleeding ink” at my visits. That is his way of asking if I’m still working in newspapers. I told him that was a phrase we lifers used a long while back.